Starburst Galaxy!

Well, g'day to you, eh! Thanks for dropping out of cyberspace and right into my virtual cafe. I appreciate you spirilling by. Coffee's freshly perked and the array of virtual treats is only a tad less spectacular that the night sky. (Whoa! Find out what he's smokin' and get me some, eh!)

The Hubble Space Telescope has captured the image of an unusual galaxy -- a beautiful, glittering swirl named, rather un-poetically, J125013.50+073441.5. (Now that's a mouthful!) A glowing haze of material seems to engulf the galaxy, stretching out into space in different directions and forming a fuzzy streak in this image. 

It is a starburst galaxy -- a name given to galaxies that show unusually high rates of star formation. The regions where new stars are being born are highlighted by sparkling bright blue regions along the galactic arms.

Studying starburst galaxies can tell us a lot about galactic evolution and star formation. These galaxies start off with huge amounts of gas, which is used to form new stars. This period of furious star formation is only a phase; once all the gas is used up, this star birth slows down. Other famous starbursts captured by Hubble include the Antennae Galaxies and Messier 82, the latter of which is forming new stars ten times faster than our galaxy, the Milky Way.

Some people find talking about space boring but to me it is the future of mankind so bear with my occasional references upward if you would. We're not alone out there. I'm convinced of that and each new discovery adds to the wonderment and mystery, don't you agree?  Yeah...uh, whatever, eh!

See ya. Have another VT!

Bob